Social Studies Department Electives

Citizenship & Civics/ Law Education  Learn how your government and legal systems work.  Learn how your government and legal systems influence you every day.  Explore careers in this field you may be interested in.  Participate in real life situations: Case Studies Mock Trials Crime Scene Investigation  Explore and discuss real life cases.

Current Problems, Issues and Events  This course is also often referred to as “Mission Ignition”, which is a program that promotes safe driving through class projects. However, students in this class also carry out a variety of other service projects unrelated to driving safety. Additionally, throughout the course, current issues and events are presented and discussed. This is a student driven, service learning based class. Students enrolling in this course need to be dedicated and hardworking.

Psychology  Psychology is a very interesting and fun Social Studies elective that focuses on the scientific study of mental processes and behavior. Students will learn about development, memory, cognition, language, conformity, attitudes, perception and much more! Throughout this course students will gain knowledge about their own behavior, as well as that of others and will enjoy being a part of several projects.

Sociology  Sociology is the study of how people behave in groups. Groups that a person belongs to have a strong effect over the way they think, feel, and act. Groups in our society include social class, family, school, racial, ethnic, gender specific, deviants, religious, political, to name a few. As you study sociology, you will hopefully look at group issues with an open mind and an intellectual curiosity that encourages you to approach issues objectively.

Honors World History  World History emphasizes events and developments in the past that greatly affected large numbers of people across broad areas and that significantly influenced peoples in subsequent eras. Key events related to people and places as well as transcultural interaction and exchanges are examined in this course. Students are expected to compare and contrast events and developments involving diverse peoples and civilizations in different regions of the world. They will examine examples of continuity and change, universality and particularity, and unity and diversity among various peoples and cultures from the past to the present. Students are also expected to practice skills and process of historical thinking and research and apply content knowledge to the practice of thinking and inquiry skills and processes. There will be continuous and pervasive interactions of processes and content, skills and substance, in the teaching and learning of history.  Honors World History is a survey course that expects that students’ reading and writing abilities are such that they can keep up with a more advanced workload. The course covers material in greater depth and pacing and is distinguished by the expectation of higher quality work, not higher quantity of work. As an Honors course, World History will explore analytic and interpretive thinking supported by primary and secondary sources. Critical thinking skills will be called upon to make connections between people, places, and eras of history.

Ethnic Studies  Ethnic Studies examines the experiences of various ethnic and minority groups living in the United States today. This course provides an opportunity for a more in-depth study of American history through different perspectives. Students will study the origins of different ethnic groups and, in some cases, the circumstances that brought them to the United States. The course will examine groups’ assimilation into American society, and inequities, whether real or perceived, that they have experienced since their arrival in this country. Areas of study will include Native Americans, African Americans, European immigrants, Asian Americans, and Hispanic populations. It is important for students to have an understanding of the diversity within our society so they can live and work together as members of the American society.